Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help :-)

Hi guys (and girls), I will be around for the next few hours and if anyone has any questions about HDTV's, specific models or general questions, please let me know. I am feeling in a helpful mood tonight :-)

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

As for the digital transition, do not let any employee of any "Box" tell you that you have to buy an HD tv set. This is pure bunk. If you have cable you will be taken care of by your provider. If you don't have cable and are still using rabbit ears, you will need to buy an analog to digital converter, but you do not need an HD tv. Digital and HD are two different things. Buyer beware.

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt986

Hi guys (and girls), I will be around for the next few hours and if anyone has any questions about HDTV's, specific models or general questions, please let me know. I am feeling in a helpful mood tonight :-)

-Matt

I'm looking at 42" LCD's, what specific models do you recommend?

__________________Max Roach did it, Elvin Jones did it, but Roy Haynes didit and didit and didit.

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

on the subject of cables do NOT listen to anyone who says any expensive digital cable will improve the quality of the image over a cheaper cable. Basically in the old days when everything was analogue the type of cable used did have an effect on picture/sound quality however with digital as long as the signal is being recieved it won't make any difference what sort of cable you buy. Sadly people waste hundreds of pounds thinking the opposite because of salespeople leading them down the garden path.

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

Gruntersdad, you are absolutely right. If you have cable from any provider, no box ix necessary and you do NOT need an HDTV. Furthermore, the transition only effects those using rabbit ears to get their pictures.

Eddie, this is not ENTIRELY true. Here's why. With the digital realm of cables, you need to look at the bandwidth, which is usually measured in Gbps, or gigabites per second. To carry a 720P resolution with good color saturation, a cable needs to handle about 4 GBPS. Any HDMI cable on the market can do that. However, in order to handle 1080P, the cable needs to have a bandwidth of about 7GBPS. Most cables in the 40 - 70 USD price range are capable of this. For a TV that does 1080P and 120hz motion reproduction, you need at least 10Gbps speed. Only higher end cables from monster and a few store brands can do that.

A great HDMI cable for a reasonable price is the Rocketfish line from Best Buy. A 4f cable that can handle 1080P and the 120hz feature goes for around 60 USD. The equal from Monster is 130 USD. I am using rocketfish on my whole setup and it looks and sounds great.

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt986

Eddie, this is not ENTIRELY true. Here's why. With the digital realm of cables, you need to look at the bandwidth, which is usually measured in Gbps, or gigabites per second. To carry a 720P resolution with good color saturation, a cable needs to handle about 4 GBPS. Any HDMI cable on the market can do that. However, in order to handle 1080P, the cable needs to have a bandwidth of about 7GBPS. Most cables in the 40 - 70 USD price range are capable of this. For a TV that does 1080P and 120hz motion reproduction, you need at least 10Gbps speed. Only higher end cables from monster and a few store brands can do that.

A great HDMI cable for a reasonable price is the Rocketfish line from Best Buy. A 4f cable that can handle 1080P and the 120hz feature goes for around 60 USD. The equal from Monster is 130 USD. I am using rocketfish on my whole setup and it looks and sounds great.

Well that's what i'm talking about, a lot of people are going to be spending however much more on the monster cable when there's no point because as long as the cable is cabable of switching on and off quickly enough then there should be no problem.

Re: Got questions about HDTV's or the digital transition? Ask em here, Happy to help

Cant go wrong with that samsung, some of the best stuff out there comes from them, and they offer a lot of technology for a very reasonable price point. I usually turn to them first, followed by Panasonic, Sony, and LG.

I'm a big samsung fan though. Do you know off the top of your head what model you have?